Eli5: Why is the English language most common in this world?
In: 41
I can’t remember where I read it, but it was a really good explanation as to why English is a global lingua franca. Yes, England and then after the Acts of Union the UK had its global colonies. The United States did as well. But one reason why English is the lingua franca of the world and not Spanish or French has to do with the language itself.
English is a bastard language. Yes it’s Germanic, but it has been so heavily influenced by other Germanic languages, like Danish, but also by Latin via Norman French. After William the Conqueror took over England, French was the language of the elite and everyone else spoke the ancestor of modern English.
But it also has to do with how the English, and later Americans, colonized. The French, Spanish and Portuguese elite were content in speaking their languages while their indigenous colonial subjects spoke their indigenous langauges. Even now French is considered a langauge signifying that a person is more cultured than someone who is doesn’t speak it (Seriously. I’ve had French people tell me that you are not civilized if you don’t speak French).
But the English, and later Americans, never felt that the English language itself was a measure of being “civilized.” Sure there are dialects that are considered more posh and “civilized.” Think Received Pronunciation vs Northern English, or Southern American style English vs a General American accent. But the language as a whole is not considered elite. People in British colonies, regardless of class, race, or subjugation were expected to learn English just because that was the language of their overlords. The Spanish, and especially the French did not do this.
I know I’m simplifying this, but I’m basically paraphrasing from something I read some years back, but I found it interesting.
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